2nd Edition HBSC Family Wealth Scale (FAS II) Online Review

The Family Affluence Scale (FAS) is a scale developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Behavior Research Team. It aims to assess the material wealth level of school-age children’s families through a series of easy-to-answer questions. The FAS scale is a quantitative assessment tool for inferring the level of material affluence in a family. The FAS scale is based on a set of questions and covers some factors related to family affluence. These questions include the following: 1. Owning a car: Does a family own a car? 2. Own a computer: Does the family own a personal computer or laptop? 3. Shared bedroom: Does the child share the bedroom with other family members? 4. Vacation Travel: Are families capable of taking vacation trips at least once a year? According to the student’s answer, each question is assigned a specific score. Normally, if the answer is yes, 1 point is given; if the answer is no, 0 points are given. By calculating the total score of students, their family wealth can be divided into the following three categories: 1. Low FAS (score = 0–2): Low scores indicate lower family material wealth. 2. Medium FAS (score = 3–5): A moderate score indicates that the family’s material affluence is average. 3. High FAS (score = 6–9): Higher scores indicate higher family material affluence. The FAS scale provides a more objective and credible method of assessment than asking about the occupation and family income of adolescent parents. It measures the family’s level of material wealth through specific questions, without relying on individual subjective statements or memories. Therefore, the FAS scale is widely used in research, especially in terms of health behavior and socio-economic status involving school-aged children and adolescents. The latest version of the FAS scale is the FAS version 2 (FAS II-4), which is a further improvement of the FAS scale. Based on the original four questions, FAS II-4 adds questions about whether family members have their own bedrooms. This question is believed to reflect more accurately the degree of family wealth. The use of the FAS II-4 scale has been widely recognized and has proven to be an effective tool for evaluating the level of material wealth in children and adolescents, as well as its association with factors such as healthy behavior, mental health, academic performance. In the study, FAS II-4 is also commonly used to describe and compare the family wealth levels of students in different regions, ages, ethnic groups, and genders. At the same time, it is widely used to develop and evaluate social public policies and interventions to reduce economic poverty and inequality. If you are interested in knowing the level of material affluence in your family, we encourage you to perform a free test on the Family Affluence Scale (FAS). This test evaluates your family’s material wealth level with several simple questions and classifies your score as low, medium, or high FAS levels. This can help you better understand the financial situation of your family and provide an objective indicator to compare and understand. Please click the link below to start the test. We encourage you to share test results to facilitate discussions about family wealth and social inequality.